Sunday, July 27, 2008

Marine Mammals in The Right Blue

New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri)Marine mammals are warm-blooded animals that either live all or most of their lives in the sea, or make their living in the sea. Marine mammals we have had the pleasure to observe up close, and in some cases to dive with, include several species of Cetaceans -- i.e., whales, dolphins and porpoises -- and some Pinnipeds, such as seals.

Here is a directory of articles about marine mammals on The Right Blue:

Sunbathing at Kaikoura - Dec. 10, 2007

Male Fur Seals at Taiaroa Head - December 17, 2007

Tales of Whales: Humpbacks in Hawaii - January 20, 2008

Tales of Whales: Vocal Visitations - January 21, 2008

Tales of Whales: Close Encounters with Humpbacks in Hawaii - January 24, 2008



PHOTOS - Cetaceans:

Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), photo by Lou Herman - Pacific: Hawaii

PHOTOS - Pinnipeds:

New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), female, basking on the rocks - Pacific: New Zealand

New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), 3 photos, male, swimming on the surface near shore - Pacific: New Zealand

7 comments:

scienceguy288 said...

Thanks for the photo links. Spectacular.

ankush vimawala said...

nice shot, cute

BNS said...

Thank you both!

Bobbie

lavenderbay said...

Thank you for the directory. I had a lousy sleep last night, and right now I'm nodding off, listening to the humpback conversations you gave the link to.
It's interesting how fur seals, when they're in the water, look like they're covered not in fur but in latex!

BNS said...

@ Lavender - I find that listening to the humpback vocalizations to be very calming.

Re the fur seals - yes, when they're wet they do look like they're wearing full wetsuits (which, in a way, they are!).

Bobbie

2sweetnsaxy said...

Thanks for the links. I don't think I ever paid attention to the fact that they had fur or maybe this photo just brought it out.

BNS said...

Hi 2Sweet - You are welcome. You are not alone in overlooking the fact that all marine mammals, by definition have hair or even fur. As Lavender pointed out in her comment above, when these creatures are wet, they don't look "furry," because their hair is all slicked back.

Bobbie